South Korea-based OliX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (KOSDAQ: 226950) announced a private placement of newly issued common shares raising approximately KRW 110 billion (USD 80 million), with proceeds earmarked to advance its siRNA pipeline across dermatological, ophthalmic, and metabolic disease indications. The financing reflects continued institutional appetite for validated RNAi delivery platforms following OliX's February 2025 global licensing deal with Eli Lilly, which provided up to USD 630 million in potential payments and materially de-risked the company's technology thesis.
The round was structured as a third-party allotment of newly issued common shares to two investors: BOLD, L'Oréal's corporate venture capital arm, and Weiss Asset Management LP, a US-based asset management firm. Weiss is a repeat investor, having first entered OliX in August 2025. BOLD's involvement carries both financial and strategic dimensions, extending an existing R&D collaboration between OliX and L'Oréal in skin and hair biology. Specific share counts and per-share pricing were not disclosed in the announcement.
Company overview and pipeline
OliX is an RNAi drug development company whose proprietary OASIS (OliX Advanced Small Interfering RNA System) platform is designed to improve gene-silencing efficiency and enable tissue-specific delivery of siRNA therapeutics. The platform underpins two delivery approaches: locally administered RNAi for dermatological and ophthalmic indications, and GalNAc-conjugated siRNA for hepatocyte-targeted liver disease programs.
The company's most clinically advanced and commercially validated asset is OLX75016, a GalNAc-asiRNA candidate targeting MASH and liver fibrosis, which is the subject of the Lilly licensing agreement. OliX is conducting an ongoing Phase I trial in Australia, after which Lilly assumes full global development and commercialization responsibility. Beyond OLX75016, OliX is advancing locally administered programs in androgenic alopecia, age-related macular degeneration, and hypertrophic scarring. The company is also building earlier-stage delivery platforms targeting the central nervous system and adipose tissue as part of its stated "OliX 2.0 Roadmap".